Family Friendly New Mexico recognizes 4 Farmington firms, SJ College and the county
Four Farmington companies a college and the county government were awarded gold or silver level “Family Friendly New Mexico” awards.
The nonprofit state program recognizes New Mexico businesses with family-friendly policies that help workers balance work and family, the group said.
Those recognized as Gold Level awardees are Farmington Tires of Four States, Four Corners Community Bank, Four States Tire & Service and San Juan County. The City of Farmington was recognized earlier this year.
Those recognized at the Gold Level have four or more policies in areas of paid leave, health support, work schedules and economic support. Silver Level awardees have three or more policies in each of the above areas.
Silver level award winners were Animas Environmental Services, LLC and San Juan College.
“We know that our employees are our strongest assets, and we’re thrilled to have met the qualifications as a family-friendly business,” said Four Corners Community Bank President and CEO, Sheila Mathews in a press release. “We’ve found that providing a rewarding, flexible, and stimulating workplace is key to attracting and maintaining happy and productive staff.”
County Executive Officer Kim Carpenter said San Juan County has won awards before as a top employer, including one from the National Association of Counties.
“It confirms what we’re trying to achieve for our citizens,” Carpenter said.
The award program was created by the New Mexico Task Force on Work Life Balance to promote family-friendly business practices to New Mexico business.
It states it is not an advocacy or lobbying organization. The task force was formed by the New Mexico State Legislature in 2010.
The Kellogg Foundation and McCune Foundation, among others, support implementation of the award program.
“We have the opportunity to be a national leader in offering workplaces that help companies attract and keep the best workers,” said Giovanna Rossi, head of Family Friendly New Mexico. “And studies have shown that costs associated with creating family-friendly benefits are returned in terms of improved productivity, employee morale, and employee retention.”
Policies the group considered family friendly include giving “access to health insurance; paid vacation; making reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees; flexible leave time for parents to attend to their kids’ medical or school needs; paid family leave; and ensuring workplaces have proper breastfeeding space and storage, among many other family-friendly benefits.”
Award was created by the New Mexico Task Force on Work Life Balance to recognize and celebrate New Mexico businesses that have family-friendly policies in place, including paid leave, health support, work schedules and economic support.
The statewide task force was created by the New Mexico State Legislature in 2010.
The implementation of this program is supported by the Kellogg Foundation and McCune Foundation among others.
More than 60 companies across the states were recognized by the group.
Any New Mexico business may apply for free for the Family Friendly New Mexico designation via www.nmfamilyfriendlybusiness.com.
“The process is easy and should take less than 10 minutes for someone with knowledge of the company’s human resource policies,” the group stated.
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